Best of Beauty in 2016

The Stand-Outs

2016 was the year I finally streamlined and defined my makeup collection. I cut out all the random, “ooh that looks pretty”, makeup I would buy on impulse browsing the aisles of Superdrug and fully defined the make-up I truly love. Don’t get me wrong, I still buy makeup and still go all heart-eyed over new releases and anything Kylie Jenner drops, I’m just a lot more careful with my selections nowadays (cor, don’t I sound old?!).

Doing this has allowed me to really use what’s in my collection and find those products that work perfectly for me and they are the ones that have made the cut in the Best of Beauty in 2016. The products that I’ve continually reached for, the products that are looking worse for wear due to how well-loved they are and the products I can’t stop recommending to people. In fact, you may well be almost sick of seeing these products on my blog and Instagram, I just can’t help it… they are genuinely so good!

After a year of streamlining my collection, these are the eight that didn’t even need to be question or thought about. They were already safely in my makeup bag where I knew they were going to stay. Some of them are old, trusty, ‘return to time and time again’ loves and some of them are still new and exciting. The point is, these are the products that have well and truly earned a place in my best of beauty.

So without further ado, here are the eight beauty products I have adored throughout 2016 and are the real stand-outs.

Clinique

Hydrating Primer

The Clinique Pep-Start Primer was probably one of my favourite additions to my makeup bag all year and has considerably changed the way I apply and wear my makeup.

Gone are the days of awful dry patches and dodgy looking foundation after a few hours wear. My skin is hydrated, feels soft and makeup lasts a good few hours longer than it does without applying this. It’s one to chuck in your handbag too, if your makeup does start to go a bit flaky or dry throughout the day, a tiny amount of this on top softens and evens out the look. It’s a bit of a miracle product and what’s best is that you only need to small amount, meaning your little pot of goodness is going to last you a good while. If you ask me, a completely underrated product that has the power to completely transform your makeup.

Bourjois and Rimmel

Foundation & Concealer

When I started to brainstorm this post early November, I initially worried I wouldn’t have a foundation to talk about, quite simply, for the longest time I hadn’t found a foundation that wowed me but then I purchased the Bourjois City Radiance Foundation after reading some pretty great thoughts. I’m not going to spill too much as I’ve got a full review coming up on this soon, but think dewy, brightening and long-lasting. It’s the best foundation I’ve used in a very long time.

Shock of the year goes to: me. For using a concealer that isn’t my firm favourite Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. My local didn’t have the Collection offering so instead I randomly picked up the Rimmel Lasting Perfection concealer and I am so glad that I did! It’s incredibly creamy; which makes applying a blending a dream whilst keeping the under eye area from going flaky. It’s coverage is impressive and I can safely cover up my dark circles and any pesky blemishes with this. I’ve since repurchased this which just tells you how much I love it. My skin won’t do without it!

Seventeen

Liquid Highlighter

When I initially saw the Skin Wow! Highlighter, I did first think I wouldn’t enjoy the consistency of liquid highlighter. But, boy, how wrong was I?! This almost feels like the perfect highlighter; creamy, beautifully eye-catching and shimmery. Not forgetting to mention it’s easy to work with and blend and lasts as long as my foundation does. SEVENTEEN claim you can use it as a primer, but that personally didn’t work for me and created an overly shimmery, borderline greasy look but using this purely for it’s highlighting properties? Perfection!

TooFaced

Eyeshadow Palette

TooFaced is quickly becoming one of my favourite beauty brands in the industry, purely thanks to just how much I adore their Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette. Full with sixteen beautiful, chocolate-scented shadows who’s formula is so incredibly impressive. The shadows themselves are insanely pigmented but they don’t have massive fall down and just looking at the colours show just how usable they all are together.

This is always my go-to palette for travelling purely because it’s the perfect palette for easily going from day-to-night with an impressive mix of neutrals and more darker, shimmery shadows. This palette has it all, a wonderful mix of shimmers and mattes and also a matte black and cream shadow, something most palettes miss out! A perfect little all-rounder, of course, complete in Too Faced’s typical adorable but completely sufficient packaging!

Hourglass

Settings Powders

I won’t go on too much about my love for the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit palette purely because I’ve never stopped going on about it here on SimplyAbbi (read my full review: Hourglass Lighting Edit). But, I will simply say that even throughout all of 2016 and the fact that I’ve seriously hit pan on this, this little palette of reflecting goodness is still one of my favourite products of all time.

The beautifully soft powders illuminate and set the face without looking to shimmery or over-the-top and give off such a healthy, radiant look I’m yet to be able to create with anything else. It will be pretty hard saying goodbye to this palette when the powders are eventually un-usable (shouldn’t take too long) so I think it’s round about time I head to the Space.NK website and see what else Hourglass have got to offer me…

Kat Von D & Rimmel

Lip Products

We all know that 2016 was the year for bold, matte lips so it’s not really any surprise that my two favourite lip products of the year are both pretty bold mattes! First up is the Rimmel Only One Matte Lipstick in Trendsetter. A bold but still managing to be perfectly natural nude that helps define and bring out the lips more without looking over the top. The formula is magically cream, but, as the name would helpfully suggest, applies matte. It looks brilliant, lasts for a good few hours and does’t have you constantly reaching for the lip balm. For the last four months of the year, this was my everyday lipstick.

I’m throwing it back to Summer with this next one as the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Noble is the only lip product July and August had me reaching for. A beautiful light peach that marginally avoids washing you out is another perfect every day colour that still looks bold and beautifully eye-catching. But it wasn’t actually just the colour that wowed me: the formula pretty much blows some other liquid lipsticks out the water – not overly drying, easy to apply and I promise you, it won’t budge. 2017 is the year I try so many more of these, especially as she’s just released some new shades too (I need Ludwig!)…